Differences over Agriculture Policy Key Component of Senate Race

A lot of attention in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race is being paid to the state’s farmers. Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill says her proposals best represent the desires and needs of small farmers, whom she claims have been hurt by corporate agriculture. And, she suggests Republican incumbent Jim Talent is in the pocket of those corporate agriculture interests. Talent rejects the idea he is doing the bidding of “big agriculture,” pointing to the fact he is supported by groups like the Missouri Farm Bureau, which has more than 100,000 dues-paying members – most of whom are small farmers. The two candidates also disagree over mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, which would allow consumers to see where they meat they buy comes from. McCaskill supports it, while Talent opposes it. He says mandatory labeling of this kind would add compliance costs that would be shouldered by Missouri cattlemen.